South losing battle against AIDS, STDs

Despite efforts to curb the rate of AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases, rates remain high in six Southern states, according to the Associated Press:

AIDS cases rose 27 percent for six Southern states - Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana - between 2000 and 2002. [Duke University health policy expert Kate] Whetten said such cases only rose by 11 percent during the same period in the entire Midwest. A separate study found that North Carolina AIDS rates increased by 36 percent between 2001 and 2003.

"These six states are in a lot of trouble," Whetten said. "You're better off being born in Costa Rica or some South American countries than in Durham, N.C."

In addition, the nation's highest rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea remain in Southeastern states, many of which are plagued with high poverty levels, poor health care resources and low levels of health insurance coverage.